Herry's magic couldn't break jinx
In the end, it was the Indonesian coach's former disciples, Fajar Alfian-Shohibul Fikri, who made off with the China Open title in Changzhou today.
World No. 2 Aaron-Wooi Yik were a pale shadow of themselves as their China Open dream shattered into a 1,000 pieces. World No. 210 Fajar-Shohibul, a scratch pair, smashed their way to a one-sided 21-15, 21-14 win in just 35 minutes.
Though Herry had led Aaron-Wooi Yik to three titles this year, he couldn't do much today, as his former players, Fajar and Shohibul — who were partnering each other for only the second time — outplay Aaron-Wooi Yik with their dynamic teamwork.
Fajar-Shohibul took home US$148,000 (RM624,757) while Aaron-Wooi Yik had to settle for US$70,000.
Aaron-Wooi Yik have now lost all six Super 1000 finals they contested since 2019.
Fajar-Shohibul celebrated wildly, as the win marked Indonesia's first World Tour men's doubles title of the year.
"We couldn't handle their speed and their quality shots. A scratch pair is always tricky and we need a bit more time to analyse their game," said Aaron.
Wooi Yik said: "We did struggle against them and we were surprised with their array of shots.
"We tried to come back into the match, but today they played very well. They controlled the front court effectively."
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